Aussies have reacted with outrage after a young woman was arrested in Brisbane for wearing a singlet saying “from the river to the sea” – a phrase recently banned under Queensland’s new “hate speech” laws.
Bonnie Carter, 18, was given an adult caution, but a 33-year-old man arrested nearby after at the same protest on Wednesday is being prosecuted for allegedly chanting the same slogan.
He was charged with “recital, distribution, publication or display of prohibited expressions”, and ordered to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 8. The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Ms Carter told 9News she didn’t believe she had offended anyone, and said: “I wasn’t doing anything violent, I had no intention if doing anything violent.”
The phrase “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” were last week made illegal in Queensland when used to menace or offend, as part of sweeping new laws introduced by Liberal National Party Premier David Crisafulli following lobbying from Jewish groups.
At the time of the 2021 Census there were just 5,634 Jewish people living in Queensland, making up 0.1% of the population.
But footage of the arrest aired by 7News angered free speech advocates and everyday Aussies, with many saying that while the disagreed with the woman’s pro-Palestine opinions they believed the laws went too far.
“I don’t care where you stand on the entire issue, everyone who isn’t retarded has to agree, this is fucking outrageous, she now faces two years’ jail for a few words on her clothing. Australia is getting more retarded by the day,” read one popular post.
I don’t care where you stand on the entire issue, everyone who isn’t retarded has to agree, this is fucking outrageous she now faces 2 years jail for a few words on her clothing.
Australia is getting more retarded by the day. pic.twitter.com/OEauPDQGKl
— Retard Finder (@IfindRetards) March 11, 2026
“This Is Only Going To Make Things Worse”.
Want to support me? Links in bio to my Patreon program and merch. pic.twitter.com/Yzwy7vDb4R
— 2 Worlds Collide Podcast (@2worldsPodcast) March 12, 2026
It’s cartoonish how the reporters in this segment had to be all “as journalists we’re legally allowed to say ‘From the river to the sea’ when reporting on this incident”. Somehow this magical phrase which magically genocides all Jews doesn’t kill anyone when journalists say it. https://t.co/gB7EKCAnf7
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 12, 2026
Afghanistan veteran Sam Bamford from the 2Worlds Collide Podcast also spoke out against the arrests, saying the he believed the new laws were only going to make anti-Semitism worse.
“Our freedoms, our freedom of speech, is now getting ripped away from us. Do I agree with this chick? Do I agree with this young, woke, leftist uni student? No, we’ll probably disagree on 99% of things,” he said.
“But I will fight, and I will die on that hill of free speech. And this only makes it worse. You know the one thing that’s going to come out of this? The one comment that will be written over and over again in my comment section? ‘To understand who controls you, just understand who you can’t criticise’.
“It’s only going to make it worse, and no one’s above criticism, no one.”
Journalist Caitin Johnstone also criticised the laws by referring to a line in the 9News segment where the journalist informed readers he was allowed to say the phrase since he was making a media report.
“It’s cartoonish how the reporters in this segment had to be all ‘as journalists we’re legally allowed to say from the river to the sea when reporting on this incident’. Somehow this magical phrase which magically genocides all Jews doesn’t kill anyone when journalists say it,” she wrote.
Header image: Left, right, Ms Carter being arrested (7News).
The post Outrage as woman arrested for ‘river to the sea’ shirt under new anti-Semitism laws first appeared on The Noticer.
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